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Training Day Three – Afternoon
It Usually Does

Leven Gamakatsu, 18
District Five

This wasn't usually how things went.

Leven watched the other Careers as they finally broke away from the tridents station and headed for the cafeteria to join the other tributes for lunch. Clive and Lily were grinning and chatting. Ross and Bellona followed, trying to ignore them. Faven was rubbing her arms, clearly sore. Leven gave her a pat on the back. "You'll get used to it."

That was a lie, of course. She wasn't going to live long enough to get used to it. She was already injured from her fight with Lily, even though she was doing her best not to let it show. That was probably her best chance, of course. Just like joining the Career pack was probably her best chance. It would give her a little while to focus on recovering without having to worry about things like food and supplies, or whether the Careers would come after her – because if they wanted to come after her, at least it would be quick.

Still, he couldn't help wishing that she hadn't taken their offer. Well, Lily's offer. Or more accurately, Prospero's offer, because this obviously hadn't been Lily's idea. But she had gone along with it, because now she would have someone to pick on even after the Games started. Leven shook his head as he began to fill his plate. He'd been hoping that her erratic behavior would only last until the start of the Games, because then she would be able to channel it into what they were supposed to do – hunting down and killing the other tributes. But if Faven was there…

Leven's gaze drifted to where Euphoria was already sitting down with the girls from Six and Thirteen. They were chatting, laughing, getting to know each other. That was how he'd imagined things being in the Career pack. From what Oliver had said, that was how things usually were. Maybe he'd been exaggerating. Maybe his year had been different. Maybe this year was different. Maybe it didn't matter exactly why, but something about the Career pack was just … off.

Maybe Euphoria had the right idea. It was probably too late, of course, to break off and join another group. There was only a half a day left of training, after all. But there was always the option of going it alone. Their mentors had gone out of their way to mention on the train that joining the pack wasn't always a Career's best option. He'd assumed they were talking to Euphoria, but maybe he should have listened a bit sooner.

"Having second thoughts?"

Leven looked up, startled, but the question hadn't been directed at him. Lily was talking to Faven, who had been watching the girls from Seven and Eleven – the ones she'd been working with before taking their offer. Faven shifted uncomfortably. "You wouldn't really have let them join too, would you?"

Lily shrugged. "Who knows? Normally I would've said they would have to pass some sort of test – just like you – but someone convinced me not to fight any more tributes until the Games." She flashed a smile at Ross. Leven scoffed. Convinced. As if he'd used words. Ross had won, fair and square.

Leven sat down across from Ross. He'd won because he'd made the right call in the first place, not agreeing to fight until one of them was standing. If it had been a real fight … well, who knew how that would have gone. But Ross had been paying enough attention over the last few days to understand that she wouldn't be able to block every hit. That wasn't her style. She was too aggressive. And in a real fight – particularly a fight with something like a staff – you could afford to take an odd hit here and there as long as you made sure it wasn't a bad hit in the wrong place. Ross had simply taken advantage of that and chosen conditions where he would be able to win.

"He convinced you not to fight anyone else," Clive pointed out. "Didn't say anything about the rest of us."

Leven rolled his eyes. Great. So they were going to try to sucker someone into fighting Clive instead of Lily. Leven shook his head, scooped up his sandwich, and muttered, "Actually not all that hungry. I'm going to get a bit more training in." Then he headed back towards the weapons stations.

"Thought there wasn't supposed to be any food in the training area."

Leven whirled around. The voice belonged to the girl from Three, who was watching him along with her ally from Thirteen. Leven scowled. "What're you gonna do? Tell on me?"

The tribute from Thirteen shrugged. "Not our business. Rest of the pack finally getting to you?"

Not as soon as they'll get to you once the Games start. But he held back the comment, because they were right. The pack was getting to him. Well, Lily and Clive were getting to him, and the others didn't seem interested in doing a damn thing about it. Not that he'd done anything about it, either. They were probably thinking the same thing about him. But still…

"This is Hattie. And I'm–"

"Ophiuchus," Leven finished. "Ophi to your friends – that's what you said at the reaping."

"Good memory. Probably best not to get too friendly, though. They're still watching you." Ophiuchus nodded back in the direction of the other Careers. "Probably want to know if you're going to follow your district partner's lead."

Leven raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to follow yours?"

Ophiuchus shrugged. "Karina had her reasons. I have mine. Now shake your head and keep going wherever you were going."

Leven crossed his arms. "Now look–"

"Even better," Ophiuchus shrugged, and gave Hattie a nudge towards the cafeteria. Leven shook his head and made his way over to the axes station. What were they thinking? Did they expect Leven to join up with them just like that?

Did they really think it was that easy?

Lucretius Adams, 16
District Ten

"And it's that easy!"

Lucretius held the cup out to Acher, who was eyeing it skeptically. "What'd you say this was called again?"

"Root beer," Leif answered, filling his own cup. "Look, you don't have to try it if you don't want to."

"But you should," Lucretius grinned. "C'mon, we've only got a couple days left before the Games. Now's the time we should be trying everything we can, because who knows if we'll get another chance?"

Swiss shook her head as she chose a cup of milk. "No, now's the time when we should stick to what we know works so that we don't end up getting sick from some weird Capitol drink a few days before the Games."

Lucretius gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. "Spoilsport."

She rolled her eyes, but Lucretius was sure he saw a hint of a smile as the four of them headed for a table. Once they'd sat down, Acher took a cautious sip. "It's actually pretty good."

Lucretius beamed. "There. Aren't you glad you gave it a try?"

Acher nodded. "Yeah. Sure you don't want some, Swiss?"

Swiss shook her head. "No. Let's try to focus, everybody. We only have one afternoon of training left, so we need to make the most of it. So what stations haven't we tried yet?"

Lucretius cocked his head. "Interesting."

"What?"

"That you'd want to try something new. What happened to 'stick to what we know works'?"

Swiss shook her head. "That's different. Training is something that's going to be useful in the Games. Unless you think there's going to be a pool full of root beer in the Games for us to drink, that's not exactly relevant."

"We haven't tried tridents yet," Lucretius suggested. "Or swords." They'd done some work with knives and daggers the day before, but they'd avoided most of the larger, heavier weapons. "We should probably give those a try in case we end up in a tight spot and the only thing around is something heavy."

Swiss nodded. "See, that was a useful contribution. What else?"

"Poisons?" Leif suggested. "I know some of the poisonous plants that grow in Seven, but it might be good to have a look at what else might be there."

"Fire-starting, maybe," Acher added.

"I'm pretty good at that already," Leif pointed out.

Swiss shrugged. "Sure, but it'd be good for the rest of us to know, too, just in case."

"In case I die," Leif muttered.

Swiss nodded. "Not to be rude, but … yes. People are going to start dying soon, so it's good not to rely on just one person for any particular skill. That's why we went swimming earlier even though Acher already knows how, why Lucretius showed us how to navigate, why I showed you how to milk a cow. That way we're not stuck going, 'Oh, I wish so-and-so was still alive so they could do this for us.' Right?"

Lucretius winced. She was right. That was just … not the way he would have put it. He'd suggested going swimming because Acher had looked like he'd needed something to cheer him up, something that would make him feel like he was contributing to the group. But Swiss was right about learning new skills, even if the way she'd put it was a bit tactless.

I think the two of you might balance each other quite well. That was what Glenn had said on the train, and it looked like he'd been right. Together, he and Swiss had managed to create a good-sized, stable alliance. Maybe they weren't the strongest tributes in the Games, but that was sometimes a good thing. A large alliance of older, stronger tributes tended to attract the attention of the Careers. They probably wouldn't feel as threatened by a couple of fourteen-year-olds, a fifteen-year-old, and a sixteen-year-old. But even if they weren't the strongest tributes, there was strength in numbers.

Numbers. There it was again. He'd been doing his best not to focus on what his father had said about numbers. After all, there was no way of knowing exactly what the forecast had meant – what numbers would be important, and whether that person's life would be entwined with his in a way that was good, bad, or something in between. He'd been keeping his eye open for possibilities, but that was all. That was what it was for.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that his first instinct had been right – that it was about Swiss. For better or worse, their lives were certainly entwined now. They'd formed their little alliance, and however things played out once the Games began would depend on the allies they'd made now. And they were a good, well-rounded group. They'd been working well together, unlike some of the alliances.

Lucretius' gaze strayed to the Careers' table on the other side of the room. The girl from Five had already left their group, and now her district partner had left lunch early. Did that mean he was leaving, too? And they seemed to have added the girl from Four, but she looked rather out of place among the older, stronger, more prepared tributes. He wasn't sure what she'd been thinking when she'd decided to join them, but it didn't seem like a very good match.

"Sounds like a plan, then," Swiss agreed. "We can start with swords, take a little break with poisons, then try out the tridents, and finish up with fire-starting. Everybody okay with that?"

Lucretius nodded, and so did the other two. Having a plan obviously made Swiss feel better about their situation, and … well, anything that helped them feel more comfortable was probably a good thing right about now. Once the Games started, good feelings would be in short supply, so they might as well take advantage of anything that made them feel better now. Lucretius took another sip of root beer.

"Sounds good to me."

Ellie Danvers, 14
District Twelve

"Sounds like a good time to get going."

Ellie looked up at Diyon, who nodded in the direction of the Careers. Well, most of the Careers. The girl from Five had broken away from the pack, and she wasn't sure where her district partner had gone, but the rest of them were starting to clean up their dishes, and a few of them were looking and pointing in her direction.

Ellie froze as Diyon and Edwina stood up and began to head back towards the training area. What did they want with her? Sure, she was from Twelve, but that didn't mean she was a Career. Then again, neither of the tributes from Four was a Career, either, so they didn't seem to be too choosy about their targets. Except that the girl from Four was with them now, but Ellie had no desire to follow her lead. As quickly as she could, she hurried after Diyon and Edwina.

But not quickly enough. "Hey, Twelve!" called one of the Careers. Ellie didn't turn, but that didn't stop them from chasing after her. She'd almost made it to the training area before the girl from Two blocked her path, flanked by the boy from One. "Easy, Twelve. We just want to talk," the boy insisted.

Ellie looked down. She didn't want to talk to them. She'd done her best not to be noticed by them at all. She clenched her fists. Winter wouldn't have been afraid. Well, maybe she would have, but she wouldn't have let that stop her. She would have stood up to the Careers and … what? Fought them? Maybe. She'd killed more than one of them in the arena, after all. She hadn't been stronger than them, but she'd been quick and clever and lucky.

Ellie closed her eyes. She didn't feel lucky right now. She just wanted them to go away. She just–

"Heard you calling for District Twelve," came a voice. Ellie opened her eyes and whirled around. Elio was standing behind her, arms crossed, glaring at the Careers in front of him. "She's not the one you want to fight."

The girl from Two giggled. "Funny. You already told my district partner you weren't interested in joining us."

Elio shrugged. "I'm not. I just want to show you why you shouldn't mess with District Twelve." He met the Career's gaze. "You and me?"

The girl from Two shook her head. "Sorry, eager beaver. I have a promise to keep. But if you'd like to fight someone else…"

The boy from One grinned. "Fancy a round with me?"

Elio's gaze was hard. "That'll do." The pair of them headed for the staffs station, and the rest of the Careers followed. Ellie hesitated. This would be a good time to slip away, but…

But now the Careers didn't seem interested in her at all, and she was curious. Elio had been training with Brennan, after all. She couldn't help wondering how he would do against one of the more … well, traditional Careers. She glanced around the room, searching for Diyon and Edwina, but couldn't see them anywhere. Maybe they'd slipped outside while she'd been distracted. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to stay a little longer.

Elio chose a staff. So did the boy from One. Ellie wasn't close enough to hear what terms they'd agreed to for the end of the fight, but she saw Elio nod, and then the other boy struck. Elio blocked the blow, and the next, then took a swing of his own. Back and forth. A couple times, Elio almost managed to hit the other boy, but the Career blocked the blows just in time. Elio very nearly dodged the older boy's staff, but it caught him on the arm. He blocked the next few blows before another struck him in the thigh, and a third swept his legs out from under him. Elio rolled out of range, scrambled to his feet, and stepped behind the trainer. "Fine," he spat. "That was three. You win."

The Career grinned. "You're weak on the right side, you know. That's what happens when you fight someone who's only got one good hand."

Elio glared. "I'll keep that in mind."

Ellie grit her teeth. That was a low blow. It wasn't Brennan's fault he'd lost the use of his other hand in the Games. And he'd made it out, which was more than most – if not all – of the Careers would be able to say by the time this was over.

But Elio simply turned and walked away, back in her direction. For a second – for just a split second – she was sure she saw him wink at her. Ellie opened her mouth to ask what that was about, but thought better of it. He was already walking past her, and past a few of the other tributes who had gathered to watch the fight.

Ellie hurried off before the Careers decided she was worth noticing again. She'd already gotten lucky once. Lucky that Elio had been there, and that he'd been willing to step in. Was that what the wink was about? Was he just acknowledging that he'd done her a favor? Maybe. But why? Sure, they were from the same district, but it wasn't as if they were friends. They hadn't even talked much on the train, or in the chariots, or even at dinner during training. There was no reason to. He had his strategy, she had hers, and there was no point in getting attached if they probably weren't even going to see each other once the Games started.

And he'd still faced down the Careers for her. It didn't make any sense. Maybe he was just being kind, but that … that didn't seem right for someone who wanted to be a Career, who wanted to help make Twelve a Career district. Careers weren't exactly known for being kind.

So what was really going on?

Elio Provost, 16
District Twelve

"So what was that really about?"

Elio looked up from the trap he was making. The boys from Three and Eleven were standing there, watching. The boy from Eleven, the one who had asked the question, was smiling as Elio answered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The boy from Eleven plopped down beside him, glanced around to make sure no one else was listening, and lowered his voice as the boy from Three sat down beside him. "My pal Cobb back in Eleven, he used to take me to fights sometimes – the sort you bet on, you know. Not really my sort of thing, but it's fun to watch if you've got a strong stomach. Anyway, I paid enough attention to know when someone was throwing a match."

Elio's forehead creased. "I'm guessing you don't mean someone lit a match and threw it on the floor."

The boy from Eleven chuckled. "No. No, throwing a match means you lose on purpose … which you just did."

Elio hesitated. "Was it that obvious?"

The boy from Eleven's smile widened, and he winked at the boy from Three. "Told you." He turned back to Elio. "No, not really. Only if you were looking for it – and I was. I doubt any of the Careers noticed, or they would have said something. I might not have said anything, except it's going to gnaw at me if I don't get an answer, so … why? Why lose? Why not show them up, find out whether you really would have beat him if you'd tried your hardest? Isn't that something you'd want to know before the Games?"

Elio nodded. It was something he wanted to know – whether he could really have beaten Clive. But that was the trouble – he wasn't sure he could have. Even now, he wasn't certain – not completely certain – that he could beat any of the Careers one-on-one in a fair fight. They'd been training for years longer than he had. They'd had an assortment of different instructors with different areas of expertise. He'd had Brennan, and over the last year, a few Peacekeepers who had stepped in to help him out.

Of course, Peacekeepers weren't automatically experts in hand-to-hand combat. After all, it wasn't often that they encountered armed resistance, and when they did, they tended to rely on having better weapons and more troops. But one of the Peacekeepers helping Brennan had been trained in Five at the academy that Adalyn ran, and she certainly knew what she was doing. Still…

Still, he wasn't sure. The only way to control the outcome of the fight had been to lose. "Because it was never about winning or losing," he answered quietly.

The boy from Eleven cocked his head. "Then what was it about? Why fight them at all? You don't really expect me to believe that it was about luring them away from your district partner, do you?"

Elio shook his head. No, it wasn't about that – although if Ellie wanted to believe that, that was fine by him. Maybe she would do better if she thought that someone was watching her back, and her allies certainly didn't seem to be filling that role. But that wasn't the reason. After all, it didn't really matter, in the end, how well Ellie did. She had to die if he was going to win.

"No," he answered after a moment. "No, that wasn't the reason. Tell me, when your friend took you to these fighting matches and one of the fighters deliberately lost, why would they do that?"

The boy from Eleven shrugged. "Usually because they were on the take."

"The take?"

"There's betting on the matches, see. Sometimes heavy betting. You have someone bet against you when the odds are in your favor, then deliberately lose. Then you split the winnings."

Interesting. "Does anyone ever throw a match so that the next time they fight that same person, the odds will be against them?"

The boy from Three cocked his head. "Is that what you were doing? You want them to underestimate you, so that the next time you fight them – when you fight them for real in the Games – they think you'll be easy pickings and you can catch them by surprise?"

Elio nodded. "Something like that. At first, I thought I could do that by just lying low during training, but a few of them started watching me at the weapons stations, and one of them worked out that I'd had some training, so … well, I want them to think it hasn't been a lot of training."

The boy from Eleven nodded. "But it has been quite a bit of training, hasn't it."

"Yeah."

"Enough that you'd be comfortable going solo? That why you haven't been looking for allies?"

Elio hesitated. He hadn't really been looking, after he'd decided not to join the Careers. He'd figured anyone without training would just slow him down. And now it was probably too late, unless…

The boy from Three spoke up. "What Olly's trying to say is, if you wanted to hang out with us for a while … well, looking like you were teaming up with a couple of scrawny outer-district kids would probably help the Careers underestimate you."

The boy from Eleven gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Who are you calling scrawny, you little twig?"

The boy from Three shrugged. "Myself, mostly." He turned back to Elio. "I'm Elseri. This is Olly. What's your name?"

"Elio."

Olly smiled. "So what d'you think? Look like a bunch of wimps, then show 'em what we've got once the Games begin?"

Elio nodded. "But not immediately once the Games begin. We try something ambitious during the bloodbath, and they'll still outnumber us. But if we wait until we have an advantage…" He trailed off. We. He'd gone into the reapings expecting to end up as part of a pack, and now … now he had one, if he wanted it. Maybe not the pack he'd been expecting, but nothing about the Games so far had gone the way he'd expected. Maybe it was time to embrace that. He smiled.

"Then we can make our move."

Olly Campos, 16
District Eleven

"Then we can make our move."

Olly nodded, satisfied, as the three of them set to work on a trap. He'd been at the same station for quite a while the day before, so he let his mind wander as his fingers did the work. From the amount of time that Elio had been spending at the weapons stations, it probably hadn't taken anyone long to figure out that he'd had some training. How much training … well, that depended on how honest he was being now. He'd thrown the fight against the Career boy so they would underestimate him, but by how much? Would he really have beaten him if he'd tried?

"So you've been training with Brennan?" Elseri asked, clearly intrigued. The idea of one of the outer districts starting to train Careers was still a bit of a strange one. It had always seemed like something that happened in richer districts, districts where teenagers had the time to devote to training, and the district had access to the equipment and resources to dedicate to organizing the whole system. Twelve was still a bit of a dark horse, but…

But people had thought the same thing about District Five, right up until Camden had volunteered. People had probably said the same thing about One, Two, and Four way back when Career training had been brand new. They were expected to be Careers now, but Four alone was proof that expectations could change. And now it was Twelve's turn.

"Mostly with Brennan," Elio agreed. "There are a couple Peacekeepers who help out a bit with weapons he's not as familiar with."

Olly's eyes darted to Elseri to catch his reaction. He didn't disappoint. "Peacekeepers?"

Elio nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeah. Something wrong with that?"

Elseri stared for a moment, but recovered. "Just … not used to people being friendly with Peacekeepers, that's all."

Elio chuckled. "I don't know if I'd call it being friendly. It's more … transactional than that."

Elseri cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"I think they can see some advantages for themselves if Twelve becomes a full-fledged Career district. The more the Capitol sees us as a legitimate Career district, the more resources we'll get. These last few years, things have been getting better in Twelve. Better pay, shorter shifts, that sort of thing. People are better off. They're happier. And when they're happier, they don't cause as many problems for the Peacekeepers."

For a moment, Elseri was silent. "Huh."

"What?"

"It's just that the Peacekeepers I've met … they tend to like it when people cause problems, because then they have an excuse to respond with force."

Elio nodded. "Some of them, I'm sure. Probably more of them in Three … considering."

"Yeah," Elseri muttered. "It's a cycle. The districts where people are already cooperating get the more lenient Peacekeepers, so they keep cooperating. The districts where people are less cooperative … we get the Peacekeepers who crack down on everything, which makes people even more upset."

"Including you?"

"Was it that obvious?"

Elio chuckled. "We all saw the reapings, you know. The boy you volunteered for was in handcuffs. Not a big leap to figure out that you might have a problem with the Peacekeepers." He shook his head. "I'm just saying, they're not all like that. A lot of them just want to do their job without a lot of fuss."

"And what is their job?"

Elio shrugged. "It's in their name. Keeping the peace. Punishing people who are actually hurting other people, and protecting the people who aren't."

"You really believe that, don't you."

Elio nodded. "Yeah. But I can see why you wouldn't. From what I've heard, things are pretty rough in Three. And Eleven, for that matter," he added, turning to Olly.

Olly shrugged. He did his best to stay away from Peacekeepers, and that had always worked well enough for him. Oh, some of them probably knew about the gambling rings, but they usually didn't make a fuss about it unless things got out of hand. As far as they were concerned, the more time people spent gambling, the less time they spent making actual trouble. "Never really had much trouble with Peacekeepers myself," he offered. "I know people who have, though. I've just been lucky, I guess." Lucky and smart, but he didn't say that. If Elseri was interested in playing it smart, he wouldn't keep running his mouth and scaring off potential allies. "Until now, of course," he added.

"Yeah, until now," Elio agreed. But there was something in his voice that gave it away. Even though he'd been reaped, he had enough training that being chosen for the Games didn't automatically seem like a death sentence.

"Huh," Olly muttered.

"What?"

"All that training – you were planning on being here, weren't you. Maybe not this year, but next year, or the year after. You were planning on volunteering, weren't you."

Elio looked around again before nodding. "Yeah."

Olly turned to Elseri. "And you – you volunteered." He chuckled. "Guess that makes me the only one of us who didn't plan on being here."

Elio clapped him on the back. "Looks like you're doing just fine anyway." He nodded at the trap Olly had nearly finished. "That looks great, and you were barely looking at it."

Olly waved a hand. "Had quite a bit of practice yesterday." And that was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. Being light-fingered was part of his stock in trade, and he'd always been a quick study. This was exactly the sort of thing he was good at. Actual fighting, on the other hand…

Olly shook the thought from his head. He would just have to make sure he didn't end up doing much actual fighting, which would be a lot easier now that he and Elseri had Elio to do some of it for them. And Elseri would attract a lot of attention from the audience, for better or worse. All in all, things were looking quite good.

Now he just had to make sure they stayed that way.

Diyon Mendis, 18
District Eight

He just had to make sure they stayed out of trouble.

Diyon breathed a sigh of relief as Ellie appeared from inside the training area. "There you are. I thought you were right behind us." That wasn't true, of course. He'd heard the Careers catch up to Ellie, but he hadn't turned around to look, because now he could pretend he hadn't noticed. "Are you all right?"

Ellie nodded, glancing around at the mutts. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I told them I didn't want to fight, and they went after Elio instead."

Diyon nodded. "And how did he do?"

Ellie shrugged. "Okay, I guess. He lost, but it didn't look like he got hurt."

"Good. Well, good for him, anyways. Has he been training?"

Ellie's eyes widened. "How would I know?"

Diyon had to fight to keep himself from smiling. The girl was such a bad liar. "You're from the same district, right?"

Ellie shrugged. "Do you know everyone in Eight?"

"No, but if someone had been training for the Games, I think I'd know it."

Ellie shook her head. "How many people knew you were planning to volunteer?" She turned to Edwina. "Did you?"

"No."

Diyon held up his hands. "Okay, okay, no need to get defensive about it. I just figured maybe the new Careers would be a bit more … obvious about it. That's the whole point, isn't it? Make a name for themselves, grab everyone's attention, make a splash?"

Edwina cocked her head. "She's got a point, though. Why didn't you?"

Diyon shrugged. "I'm not a Career."

"No, but you said you were volunteering because the district needed a leader. Why not get a head start on that by letting people know you were going to volunteer?"

"Do you think anyone would have listened? Do you think anyone would have cared? Who's going to be interested in a kid from Eight volunteering for the Games?" He shook his head. "I don't want everyone's attention now. After the Games, I'll have plenty of it. Right now, I want them to ignore me. To ignore us. We don't want any attention – especially not from the Careers. So it's just as well they decided to go after your district partner instead."

Ellie shifted uncomfortably. "They didn't exactly decide to. He stepped in."

Diyon raised an eyebrow. Now that was interesting. "Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was just trying to help me."

No. No, that wasn't it – and she didn't believe it either. But he probably wasn't going to get anywhere by pressing her for more. She probably had no idea why he'd done it. She probably didn't care why he'd done it. She was probably just glad the Careers weren't targeting her.

For now. For now, she'd managed to avoid them. Which was really the best that any of them could hope for. Soon, they would be in the Games, and then they wouldn't be able to hide – not forever. Eventually, it would come to a fight. But if they could avoid the Careers long enough, maybe it wouldn't come down to a direct fight – a fair fight – between them and the Careers. There were plenty of other targets the Careers could go after first. There were both easier targets and more tempting targets. The three of them hadn't done anything to draw the Careers' attention. Except…

Except they had gone after Ellie. But only because she happened to be from Twelve. That seemed to be what was going on, after all – they were targeting tributes from other potential Career districts. Both of the tributes from Four, and now the ones from Twelve. They'd asked a few of the other tributes, but none of them had bothered with him or Edwina, despite the fact that he'd volunteered. Apparently, volunteers from Eight didn't figure into their calculations.

And that was fine, of course. He had no interest in joining the Career pack. That had never been on the table, even though they might seem like an obvious choice for someone who wanted to improve their district's standing in the Capitol's eyes. After what had happened last year, he had no desire to end up in the same situation as the boy from Twelve had. Careers letting non-Careers into the pack was rare enough. That non-Career going on to win the Games was almost unheard of.

Almost. As far as he could remember, there was only one exception to that – and those weren't good odds. No, the farther away he could stay from the Careers, the better. Even with three of them, the Career pack would need to be whittled away quite a bit before they could make it a fair fight.

But the whittling, it seemed, had already started. The girl from Five had left the pack. The boy from Five had left their table during lunch; Diyon would have to keep an eye out to see if he'd returned once they headed back into the training area. They'd added the girl from Four, but how long did they really think that was going to last? Maybe she would leave on her own, or maybe she would die, but they didn't really think she could carry her weight as a Career.

No, it probably wasn't about that. They probably just wanted to be able to say she had been part of the pack so that once she died, it would make sense for her sponsors – or more accurately, Imalia's sponsors – to help the rest of the pack. Not that Careers usually needed sponsors to get what they needed – not with everything that was usually at the cornucopia. But there had been a few years where supplies at the cornucopia had been scarcer, or had been depleted or destroyed at some point during the Games. Maybe that was what they were planning for.

But they couldn't plan for everything.

Swiss Galloway, 14
District Ten

They couldn't plan for everything.

Swiss watched closely, trying to copy Leif's movements, rubbing her own stick back and forth as quickly as she could along the groove she'd created in the piece of wood. Sure enough, Leif's piece of wood was starting to smoke, while hers was … not. She could feel it getting warm, but not hot enough. This was a lot harder than she'd thought. She'd assumed this would be a nice, simple skill to end the day with, but she was already wishing they'd picked something else.

Swiss sighed. Matches. All they needed was a few matches, and everything they were doing right now would be completely pointless. Or for all they knew, the arena could be a desert, or something else where warmth wouldn't even be a concern. Or an indoor arena where wood wouldn't even be available. There had certainly been a few of those.

That was the problem, of course. There was no way of knowing ahead of time – no way of being prepared for everything. Pretty much every option they had would only be useful in certain types of arenas. Swimming was useless if there wasn't a large enough body of water. The same was true of fishing. Shelter-building was only useful if there were materials similar enough to what they'd been practicing with.

And weapons … well, there were usually the same basic types of weapons, which was why the weapons they'd practiced with had been the most common ones. Swords, spears, daggers. You could pretty much always count on there being something sharp and pointy. But aside from that…

Aside from that, it was just a matter of luck. All you could do was visit as many stations as you could and hope that some of them would be useful. She just wished–

"Nice job, Swiss!" Lucretius was beaming at her. Swiss looked down. Her piece of wood was starting to smoke.

Leif was grinning, too. "Great! Now keep going. Keeeeep going." Leif leaned closer to the wood. "Good. That's it. Now stop. Take the stick out. Yeah, there you go. Let it breathe. Now blow on it – gently. Gently. There you go. Now you see those embers? You want those right in the middle of that bundle of dry grass you've got there. Yes! Look at that. Look at it!"

"I am looking at it!" Swiss snapped, but she couldn't help a grin. Flames. There were actually flames! She used the grooved piece of wood to edge the burning bundle towards her pile of smaller twigs. Soon, the whole pile was alight. "Wow," she breathed. "I did it."

"You sure did!" Lucretius was grinning. He held out his hand for a high-five, which Swiss slapped before she could even think about it. "You really did it."

Swiss looked down at the fire. She had done it. She grinned at the other three, then glanced down at Acher's piece of wood, which was starting to smoke. She sat back, satisfied, as Leif helped Acher through the process of turning his embers into a fire. Maybe this wasn't as bad as she'd thought.

Lucretius clapped her on the back. "Good choice, saving this for last. Feels pretty good, huh?"

Swiss nodded. It did feel good, but that feeling was quickly overwhelmed by those other two words. For last. This was probably the last thing they would have time to do today, so she wanted to make sure she got it right. She doused her fire, then reached for another piece of wood. "Don't help me this time," she told Leif, who nodded his understanding. It was one thing to get a fire going when someone who knew exactly how to do it was sitting next to her giving instructions and making sure she didn't mess it up. It was quite another to do it without his help.

Acher followed her lead, quickly putting out his own fire and setting everything up to try again. Lucretius made his way back to his own pile of supplies, nodding his agreement. Leif stood up and stretched, watching the three of them. "Looking good so far."

Swiss gave him a look. Leif nodded and fell silent as the other three got everything into place. If they got separated in the arena – or if he died – he wouldn't be able to help them, even if it was just a few words of encouragement.

Swiss bit her lip. If he died. She'd been spending too much time with Lucretius. It wasn't a matter of if. It was a matter of when. At least three of them were going to die. If she wanted to make it home, Leif would have to be one of them. He would have to die. Acher would have to die. Lucretius would have to die.

Swiss' stomach churned as she glanced over at her district partner. This was what she had been worried about on the train, when Glenn and Tess had been trying to help them get to know each other. The more she knew about the others, the more time she spent with them, the harder it was to think about them dying. But that was what was going to happen – what had to happen – in only a few days. Today was almost over. Then tomorrow. And that … that was it. Then the Games. Then people would start dying.

But maybe not these three. Maybe not right away. That was all she could hope for, really – that they would last a bit longer than that. And maybe they would. They probably weren't a very tempting target right away, after all. Yes, there were four of them, but there were plenty of other groups that were almost as large. Groups of tributes who were older, who were stronger, who were more of a threat. The four of them … well, they weren't much of a threat. Or at least, hopefully they wouldn't seem like much of a threat.

But how long could that keep them alive?

Karina Wheeler, 18
District Thirteen

"Is this really going to help keep us alive?"

Karina chuckled at Christina, who had just missed another dummy with her slingshot. "Not if you keep aiming like that, it's not," she said with a wink.

Christina rolled her eyes. "I just meant, if someone's charging at me with a sword or a spear or something, am I really going to be able to stop them by hitting them with a stone? And wouldn't it be easier just to throw it?"

Karina nodded. "I guess I was figuring this was more for hunting than for fighting. You sneak up on an animal, but you're not sure you're close enough to hit it if you just throw the rock, or if you can throw it hard enough, so you use this instead."

Christina nodded. "I guess so. Traps just seem a bit more reliable."

"Traps also have to stay in one spot," Karina pointed out. "And they take time to set up. These are a bit more portable. And you could fight with it if you had to."

"Maybe," Christina agreed reluctantly. "But if someone's charging at me with a real weapon, I think I'd want something more than a sling."

"Slingshot," Euphoria corrected.

Christina glanced over at Euphoria, who was absentmindedly aiming at another dummy. "What?"

Euphoria let go of the band, and the stone went flying, striking the dummy squarely between its eyes – or at least, between where its eyes would have been. "Slingshot," she repeated. "This is a slingshot. Those are slings." She pointed at a nearby station. A rather empty station. Karina was pretty sure she hadn't seen anyone at that one in the last few days. "Wanna see?"

Karina shrugged. "Sure."

"Might as well," Christina agreed. "I'm not getting anywhere with this."

Euphoria led them over to the abandoned station and held up what looked like a length of cord with a small loop on one end. In the center of the cord was a bit of leather. Euphoria slipped the loop on the end over her middle finger and placed the other end between her thumb and forefinger. She laid a small stone in the leather pocket and motioned for the other two to step back. Euphoria swung the cord around a few times in a figure-eight motion, then let go of the end. The stone struck the target squarely in the chest, leaving quite a dent in the material.

"Wow." Christina seemed genuinely surprised. "Why is no one at this station, exactly?"

Euphoria chuckled. "Probably because there's a decent chance of hitting yourself in the face if you don't know what you're doing. We practice with helmets back at the academy until we're sure we've got it. They could probably use some of those here, come to think of it."

Karina nodded. That stone had been going pretty fast. She reached for one of the cords. Euphoria motioned to Christina to step back, then shrugged. "I'd step back a bit farther than that, personally. These things can go pretty far."

Christina raised an eyebrow. "Farther than those?" she nodded towards the archery station, where the boy from Five seemed to have joined back up with the rest of the Careers.

Euphoria smiled. "Not necessarily farther, but arrows tend to go in the direction you point them in. Let go of the end of the sling a little too soon, and that rock could go flying off any which way. They really ought to think about moving this station outdoors."

"Why haven't they?" Karina asked.

"Probably because no one's over here," Euphoria reasoned. "It's not a very flashy weapon. Just a bit of rope, really. But that's the appeal. A bit of rope and a bit of cloth, and you can make one of these yourself. Won't be as accurate as one that's well-made, of course, but all you need is one lucky shot, and you can make sure an opponent thinks twice about coming any farther – or even kill them, if you're a good enough shot."

Karina placed a stone in the pocket. "Probably harder to hit a moving target, though."

Euphoria shrugged. "That's true no matter what you're using, or even if you're throwing something. Go on, give it a try." She took a few more steps back.

Karina took a deep breath and began to swing the sling, trying to copy the figure-eight movement that Euphoria had used. "Good," the Career called from behind her. "Now let it go right … about … now!"

Karina let go. Or at least, she was pretty sure she'd let go when Euphoria had intended, but the stone flew off to the left of the target and clattered harmlessly against the wall. "Not bad," Euphoria called.

Karina shook her head. "I didn't hit it."

Euphoria chuckled. "I wasn't expecting you to hit it on the first try. No one does. And at least you didn't hit yourself in the face. Go on, give it another go."

Karina reloaded the sling and tried again. The second stone flew off towards the ceiling before coming back down a few feet in front of her. The third ricocheted off the wall and nearly hit the dummy in the back. After a few more tries, she finally managed to graze the dummy's arm. "Nice!" Euphoria cheered from behind her.

Karina eyed the target. "Yeah, but if it had been moving–"

Euphoria nodded. "Sure. That definitely makes it harder to hit. But that isn't even necessarily the point."

Christina cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if someone's charging at you and you start slinging rocks at them – or even throwing something at them – even if you don't manage to hit them, what do you think they're going to do?"

"Run faster," Christina offered.

Euphoria nodded. "And…"

Karina smiled. "And be a bit too quick about it. Maybe they won't have as much time to think. Or they'll be a bit distracted, a bit thrown off. It's not all about hitting them."

"Exactly," Euphoria agreed. "Sometimes, it's about scaring them. Just a bit. Just enough. Probably wouldn't work on a Career, but might make someone else think twice. Might make them hesitate. And that's when you have to be willing to take advantage of that."

Karina swallowed hard. Take advantage of that. That's when she had to be willing to kill them. That was what Euphoria hadn't said. What she'd gone out of her way not to say, despite being a Career herself. But no matter how friendly she was acting now, she was still a Career. She was still ready to fight, ready to kill. And if Karina wanted to make it back to Thirteen, she had to be willing to do the same.

She had to be ready.

Bellona Harlow, 18
District One

She hoped she was really ready for this.

Bellona waited until she was certain Clive was asleep before sneaking back into the other room. Sure enough, Jasper was still awake. He raised an eyebrow but followed her out the door and into the elevator, where she explained her plan. After a moment of silence, he nodded. "And what makes you so sure he was bluffing?"

Bellona pressed a button. "That's what I want to double-check." A moment later, the elevator dinged. Bellona stepped out, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

It took a moment for someone to answer, but when the door finally swung open, Brennan was standing there, looking a little puzzled. Bellona glanced down briefly and smiled a little. She was right. "Is Elio still awake?" she asked.

There was a rustling sound from inside, and soon Elio was standing beside his mentor. "What do you want?"

"Can I come in?"

Elio glanced at Brennan, who shrugged. "Might as well hear what they have to say."

The four of them took a seat on the couches – her and Jasper on one, Brennan and Elio on the other. "So what's this about?" Elio asked.

Bellona leaned forward. "I know you only pretended to lose to Clive."

Elio's poker face was impressive. "And what would give you that idea?"

"Something Clive said, actually," Bellona admitted. "He said you were weak on your right side. From the way you were fighting, it looked like he was right. But then he said that's what happens when you fight someone who's only got one good hand."

Realization passed over Brennan's face. "You've got a good memory."

Bellona smiled. "I wasn't completely certain until you answered the door – with your left hand. If anything, fighting someone left-handed would make you better at blocking attacks to your right, and weaker on the left."

Elio was fighting to keep his expression neutral. "Do you think anyone else noticed?"

Bellona shook her head. "I doubt it. I have a bit of an advantage there. About four years ago, one of my sparring matches took a bad turn, and I broke my right arm. Had to learn how to fight with my left hand too. Do that long enough, and you start noticing things like that – things that other people would probably miss."

Elio nodded. "So what do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"I don't think you came here this late just to show off how clever you are. So what's the plan? You're going to threaten to spill my secret unless … what? What do you want?"

Bellona chuckled. "You think I'm here to blackmail you?"

"You're not?"

"No, but it's interesting that that was your first assumption." She shook her head. "I want in."

"In?"

"On your pack."

Elio cocked his head. "Why?"

Bellona snorted. "Because the Career pack is a ticking time bomb, and I want out before it blows. Lily and Clive are having their fun, and Ross and Leven will probably stay because they don't think there are any better options. But if you have as much training as I suspect you do…"

"Olly and Elseri don't," Elio pointed out.

"I'm not asking Olly and Elseri. I'm asking you. If you tell them I'm in, I think they'll go along with it. They'll follow our lead. They're not Careers, but I have a feeling they're both willing to get their hands dirty." She leaned forward a little. "But there's a catch."

"Isn't there always."

"You can't tell them before the Games."

Elio raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because Elseri has a big mouth."

Elio opened his mouth to object, but apparently thought better of it. Finally, he nodded. "He does, doesn't he."

Bellona chuckled. "Once the Games start, it won't matter. Get away from the bloodbath safely. I'll pretend I'm chasing you and come join you instead. With any luck, no one will notice I'm gone until it's too late."

Elio nodded. "Not a bad plan. You really think it'll be that easy?"

Bellona shrugged. "Maybe. If not, I'll figure something out." Elio's expression told her that he was already thinking of ways that the plan could go wrong. What if she lost track of them during the bloodbath and wasn't sure which way they'd gone? What if the other Careers followed her? What if Elseri and Olly didn't want her as part of the group, or assumed that she was there to kill them and attacked before she and Elio had a chance to explain that she was joining them instead? There was always something that could go wrong.

But that was true no matter what either of them did. There would always be possibilities for how things could go wrong once the Games started. Nothing in the arena was predictable – that was the whole point. If you could work out from the start how everything was going to go, the audience wouldn't be glued to their screens every year, waiting to see what would happen. Surprise was part of the Games. And sometimes the surprises were bad, but…

But sometimes they were good. Sometimes a surprise was a few taunting words that led to a new alliance – a more functional alliance than the one she was leaving. She wasn't completely certain how things were going to go from here, but she was certain that this was the right choice. The pack was one wrong move away from falling apart, and she didn't want to be there when that happened. This was her way out. And Elio wouldn't object, because it would help him, too. Having a Career side with him gave him legitimacy in the Capitol's eyes, and whatever happened in the Games, that would be good for District Twelve.

"If not, we'll figure something out," Elio corrected, and held out his hand.

Bellona shook it. "We'll figure something out," she agreed, and watched as Jasper and Brennan shook hands, as well. She smiled.

Things were starting to look better already.

"Everybody does stupid things. It shouldn't cost them everything they want in life."

"No it shouldn't, but it usually does."